what is latam hiring? Terms for hiring developers

How to use this nearshore hiring glossary

Use these definitions when reviewing a job description, comparing proposals, or preparing a contract. Start with the decision you need to make. A team filling a backend role needs different help from a buyer seeking a finished application.

Separate finding a developer from employing one. Then decide who will manage the work. A proposal may bundle those services, but each needs a named owner. Write down which duties stay with your company before you compare prices.

Turn broad labels into requirements someone can check. Replace "good overlap" with a shared work window. Define "senior" through the decisions the person must make without help. Ask what a monthly rate covers and what could change it.

Keep a short decision sheet beside each proposal. Record the employment model, manager, agreed hours, invoice scope, and exit terms. If two proposals use the same word differently, ask each provider to explain its meaning in writing.

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Understand the terms before comparing offers

LatAm hiring and nearshore hiring

LatAm hiring describes where the person is based. Nearshore describes proximity to the buyer, including time zones. Neither term tells you who signs the employment agreement or owns the finished software.

For a US developer search, state the required working hours alongside the role. Specify whether the person will join an existing team or work toward a separate deliverable. That gives candidates a clearer picture of the job. It also gives providers enough detail to explain which services you need.

Direct hire

A direct hire enters your company's employment relationship. A recruiting agency may help find the person, but recruiting support and employment are separate parts of the arrangement.

Before choosing this route, identify the entity that will sign the employment agreement. Ask who will run payroll and handle local employment duties. Put those costs beside any recruiting fee when preparing the budget.

If a proposal uses "direct hire" loosely, ask it to name the employer. Your engineering manager and finance team should have the same answer.

Recruiting agency

A recruiting agency finds and assesses candidates. Its agreed scope might end at an introduction, an accepted offer, or a later milestone. Read the contract to see which event triggers payment.

Define the search before discussing candidate volume. Give the agency the work the hire must own and the requirements that are firm. Ask how rejected candidates affect the next search round.

Also name the person on your team who can give feedback. A stack of resumes creates little progress if nobody has time to review them.

Employer of record

An employer of record, or EOR, acts as the formal employer for someone supporting your company. Confirm which entity employs the person and what the service includes.

Ask whether you must bring an approved candidate or whether recruiting is part of the agreement. Then separate employment administration from engineering management. Name the person who assigns work and handles performance feedback.

Request a written account of how leave, pay changes, and departures are handled. Those are practical workflows your managers will need once the developer starts.

Staff augmentation

Staff augmentation adds people to your existing team under your daily direction. Use this term when you expect the developer to join your backlog and code review process.

Before opening the role, check who will manage the extra capacity. Name a reviewer who can answer questions about the codebase. Define which decisions the developer can make alone and which need approval.

Ask the provider how it handles a mismatch in skills or availability. Put that process in the agreement, along with your team's duty to give timely feedback.

Project outsourcing

Project outsourcing means engaging a supplier to deliver defined work. Start with the deliverable and the conditions for accepting it.

For a web application, specify the expected behavior and who signs off on completion. Decide how scope changes will be priced. Ask who fixes defects found after handover and how long that duty lasts.

A project price needs a clear boundary. If the work is still changing each week, discuss how decisions and estimates will be updated before treating the quote as a fixed budget.

Independent contractor

An independent contractor provides services under a contractor arrangement. For a proposed hire, describe the actual working relationship before choosing the contract label.

Give a qualified local adviser the expected schedule and management structure. Explain whether the person will work independently or follow daily direction from your team. Ask the adviser to assess the arrangement for the worker's location.

Keep that review separate from the candidate's technical interview. A developer's willingness to sign a contract does not answer every question your company needs to resolve.

Time zone overlap

Time zone overlap is the shared window when both sides are working. Mexico City stays on UTC-6 without seasonal clock changes. Tijuana follows US daylight saving dates. Bogotá stays on UTC-5, while Buenos Aires and São Paulo stay on UTC-3. IANA North America data, IANA South America data.

Ask the candidate to confirm the schedule in their local time. Check the window again when US clocks change. Place recurring meetings within the agreed hours and define on-call work separately.

Asynchronous work

Asynchronous work lets people make progress without everyone being available at once. For a developer, that may mean leaving a clear review request instead of waiting for a meeting.

Decide where the team records decisions and when replies are expected. A blocked task should have an owner who can resolve it. Give the new hire examples of useful issue descriptions and handover notes.

Use the shared work window for discussions that need it. Keep routine updates readable by someone who joins the conversation later.

Role scorecard and seniority

A role scorecard defines what you will assess. Seniority describes the responsibility and judgment the person must bring. Write both around work your team actually needs done.

For a senior backend role, ask for evidence of diagnosing production failures or making design decisions. For a web role, define the browser and server responsibilities separately. Avoid treating a list of frameworks as a complete job description.

Use the same criteria across candidates. Record evidence from each interview so the final decision rests on more than who spoke most confidently.

Technical vetting

Technical vetting is an assessment, so ask what was tested and how the result was judged. A completed exercise should give you evidence relevant to the job.

If the role involves maintaining an existing system, include a discussion about unfamiliar code. Ask the candidate to explain their choices and what they would investigate next. For a game developer, connect the assessment to the engine and production work involved.

Keep your final interview focused on unresolved questions. Repeating a generic test adds work without necessarily answering whether the person can do your job.

Shortlist, time to hire, and start date

A shortlist is a set of candidates ready for your review. Time to hire measures an interval between stated milestones. A start date is when the chosen person begins work.

Ask any provider which event starts its hiring clock and which event stops it. An accepted offer and a first working day are different milestones.

Plan your own interview slots before the search starts. Once you select someone, confirm their availability and who will track the remaining steps. Give equipment and account setup named owners.

Gross salary and total hiring cost

Gross salary is the employee's pay before deductions. Total hiring cost is the budget for the whole arrangement over a stated period.

Ask whether a quote is monthly or annual and which currency applies. Separate the person's pay from employer costs and service fees. Check whether equipment and any exit costs need their own budget.

Compare proposals over the same period and scope. A salary figure and a bundled invoice answer different questions. Finance needs to know what the company will pay and which events could change that amount.

Flat monthly rate

A flat monthly rate is a recurring charge for an agreed scope. The word "flat" needs a written explanation of what stays fixed.

Ask how the agreement treats pay reviews, exchange-rate changes, and partial months. Confirm the billing treatment for leave and any work outside the agreed schedule. Request a sample invoice if the fee description leaves room for different readings.

Record the approval process for extra charges. Your manager should know when a request changes the bill before making that request.

Statutory bonus

A statutory bonus is required under applicable employment law. Mexico uses aguinaldo; Colombia has prima de servicios. Argentina has sueldo anual complementario, often shortened to SAC. Brazil has a statutory 13th salary. Mexico labor law, Colombia article 306, Argentina employment law, Brazil Lei 4.090.

Ask how the applicable benefit is accrued and paid. Have the provider explain its treatment in your quote. Keep a discretionary performance bonus separate in the budget so the two are not confused.

Replacement guarantee

A replacement guarantee promises a remedy under stated terms. Read what triggers it and what the provider must do next.

Ask whether the remedy is a new search, a credit, or something else. Check the claim process and any deadline. Review the guarantee beside the exit clauses, including costs that remain payable.

Your team also needs a handover plan if a developer leaves. A search for a replacement does not document unfinished work or transfer knowledge from the departing person.

Retention

Retention measures how many hires remain over a stated period. Before comparing figures, ask which hires were counted and how departures were treated.

Check whether the measure follows each hire for the same length of time. Ask how recent hires and planned project endings affect the calculation. Keep the measurement period with the figure when sharing it internally.

Use interviews to investigate your own retention concerns as well. Discuss the actual role, working hours, and expected responsibilities before the candidate accepts. Confirm that both sides understand the job.

Onboarding and intellectual property assignment

Onboarding prepares the developer to contribute. Assign an owner for equipment and access, then choose a first task with a reviewer available to help.

Intellectual property assignment addresses ownership of work created during the engagement. Ask counsel to review how ownership passes from the developer through any intermediary to your company. Include the treatment of pre-existing code.

Before the start date, confirm where work will be stored and who approves access. Keep account removal and code handover in the exit plan so those duties already have owners.

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